Judge: Suits dont free Davis from Oakland

That's the message a Sacramento County judge sent to Oakland Raiders boss Al
Davis in the Raiders' long-running legal battle against the city of Oakland over
Network Associates Coliseum, the Raiders' home field.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Joe Gray said in a preliminary ruling
Feb. 18 that the Raiders cannot break their 16-year lease, which expires in 2010,
as the Raiders and Oakland city officials engage in dueling lawsuits over terms
of the team's return to Oakland in 1995. The ruling is tentative and is subject
to change given arguments presented last week by the Raiders and Oakland city attorneys.

The legal battles began in 1997 when Oakland city officials sued the Raiders,
claiming the team interfered with the city's effort to land a naming-rights deal.
The Raiders filed a countersuit in July 1998, claiming city officials overstated
the amount of personal seat licenses and ticket sales when the team moved back to
Oakland in 1995 after relocating to Los Angeles in 1982. In September 1998, Oakland
officials signed a five-year, $6 million naming-rights deal with Network Associates.

The ruling, however, does not prevent the Raiders from using the courts to collect
damages they say they suffered from low ticket sales, which they say fell below
levels promised by city officials.

"The judge ruled that the Raiders waited too long [to sue the city of Oakland]
in their belief that they were defrauded," said Deena McClain, general counsel for
the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, a partnership between the city of
Oakland and Alameda County that owns Network Associates Coliseum.

According to the ruling, the Raiders waited until 1998 to claim that city officials
defrauded the Raiders dating back to the signing of the stadium deal.

"The Raiders were aware of the alleged fraud before the end of the 1995 season,"
Judge Gray wrote in his ruling. "This notice was not given until the cross-complaint
was filed on July 7, 1998."

Now, the Raiders are moving forward with their efforts to seek up to $800 million
in financial damages.

"The ruling will allow us to receive the financial benefits of what was promised,"
said Raiders senior assistant Bruce Allen.